Mark Williams, who played for Watford at the turn of the millennium, told Sky News what happened to him as a schoolboy player in the north of England.

Serial paedophile Barry Bennell was found unconscious at an address in Knebworth Park, Stevenage, on Friday.

He had been named by several former footballers who alleged they were abused as children.
Williams told Sky News: "I have been watching events unfold during the last week and feel I cannot just sit back and watch my former teammates suffer alone. I need to stand by their side.

Williams is married to pornographic actress Linsey Dawn McKenzie, with whom he has one child.

The married father-of-one, born in Cheshire but whose mother was from Belfast, claimed yesterday that he was abused twice by Bennell, who has been imprisoned three times over 20 years for abusing young boys.

He said Bennell touched him "inappropriately in the genital area on both occasions and luckily for me it didn’t go any further than that".

The 46-year-old former Watford player said Bennell abused him at Pegasus, the Manchester City nursery team, when Williams was 11 and three years at Crewe, the club at the centre of the football sexual abuse scandal.

"My life has been affected irreversibly both personally and professionally and it has been soul destroying to carry this burden for 30 years," he said.

Williams said he felt moved to speak out after former Sheffield United footballer Andy Woodward (43) said he was abused by Bennell while at Crewe Alexandra from the age of 11 to 15.

"We need to make sure there are stringent measures in place to protect our children," he said.

"No child should ever have to suffer as we and many others have."

Meanwhile, Bennell has been charged with eight offences of sexual assault against a boy aged under 14, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.

The 62-year-old is due to appear before South Cheshire Magistrates' Court on December 14.

The offences are alleged to have been committed between 1981 and 1985.

CREDIT: DAMIEN MCFADDEN/DAILY MAIL

Thames Valley Police are investigating fresh allegations of child abuse against former football coach Barry Bennell